Section 16. All females convicted of crimes in the courts of the commonwealth and sentenced to imprisonment or otherwise committed to the custody of the department shall be committed to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham, or to such other correctional facility or facilities as the commissioner may from time to time designate as appropriate for the purpose.

The department shall maintain at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham, a facility for the treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics, subject to the approval of the department of public health under the provisions of chapter one hundred and eleven B.

The department shall maintain at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham, a separate awaiting trial unit for females, to which female prisoners held for trial in accordance with section forty-two of chapter two hundred and seventy-six, may be transferred by the sheriff upon approval of the commissioner of correction if suitable facilities are not available in the county jail of the court of jurisdiction.